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Among the movies which have been running successfully this year, Ennu Ninte Moideen has a big place, and it might already be the highest grossing Malayalam movie of the year and was already the Malayalam movie with highest collection all-time after Drishyam, Premam and Bangalore Dayswhen last checked a few days ago. It is a movie that claims its position by the quality of true love more than anything else. It is something that none of the newer movies could claim, and even so, it has been overrated by the fans as the greatest love movie of all times.

I recently came across two of the deleted scenes from the movie, which were uploaded on Youtube by the men behind the flick. Even though I liked this movie very much, I had my thoughts that some scenes which should have been there, had gone missing, making this movie incomplete at some parts. At some points, the movie was just rushed without having the connecting links. The character of Moideen surely deserved more moments, and with these two deleted scenes, we have two big ones!

The first scene has the character Kottatil Sethu (Bala) confronting Moideen (Prithviraj Sukumaran). This is a scene which has a very high impact in the rivalry between the two which develops after Moideen’s love for Kanchanamala (Parvathy Kottuvata). It has not just the intensity but the right display of the twist of events. There was the need for a big impact scene showing the change of things around and this is one such sequence which has been sadly removed from the movie.

Here, the football match has its announcement of players which begins and Sethu is nowhere to be found, only to appear later in the rival team. As he refuses to shake hands with Moideen, it shows his intention which is just to injure Moideen during the game, and Moideen plays along making sure that it doesn’t go on to become a fist fight and a possible communal riot later. The big brawl is nicely averted by Moideen with his intelligence, which is revealed in the end.

Prithviraj, Tovino and Bala has performed very nicely in these sequences. There are powerful feeling expressed around here, and you will love how Moideen reveals his intention towards not making a scene and inspiring a brawl or riot among his own people. The goodness of his mind and his smart ideas are on display here. One has to wonder why this wasn’t included in this movie. The fans would want the man to be a rowdy and beat everyone up and so they won’t want this intelligence sequences, but the thinking audience deserved this.

The second scene is even better and never deserved to be even though about to be deleted. It once again showed Moideen’s righteous state of mind because if he was murdered by the crowd, that would have caused a communal riot, even though the blind fans will want this removed hoping for the hero to beat up the whole crowd or stopped them with some punch dialogues. But here, Moideen chooses the right method, to retreat, something which every common man would have done.

The second scene also fills up some parts of story and Moideen’s character well. The fans wanted this character to be a rowdy or a murderer, which is why they would also want these scenes to be deleted. Those who thought that this was not quality enough will still love the “class” of Amar Akbar Anthony. There is also more of Sija Rose in this character rather than in the theatrical version. Someone with the ability to think will wonder why these scenes were deleted though! The only reason could be the total length of the movie, but for the same, there were other scenes which were better removed including the stage drama sequences.

Shadow: How many times do I have to say that I am not the Devil, but his messenger? If my king knows that I was called by his unholy name, he might decide to send me to another dimension of hell.

Vampire Owl: I think he is having an identity crisis. May be he s the messenger devil, a new form of the Devil. Somebody needs to talk to him about his existence. He is confused.

Shadow: I am not confused. You people are just too hopeless. Where is your uncle? I want to talk to the vampire lord. Call him.

Uncle Dracula: Stop teasing the Devil’s messenger. Tell me, Mr. Shadow. Why are you here? You know that you are not welcome, and none of your kind has any programme here. Your master is banned from coming within twenty five kilometres near this castle. We are free thinkers here and we have chosen to join your opposition.

Vampire Bat: I think he was actually planning to go to the werewolf abode or the cemetery. He needs to find some souls for his master or he will be burnt in hell. Well, it is quite a natural process for him, but he would want to avoid that.

Shadow: I am here as a messenger and you keep talking without stopping. Do you mind letting me speak?

Uncle Dracula: If you have kept your master’s plans to take over the world away from our area, you can speak about your message.

Shadow: Yes, and the message is simple. We want you to stop helping the humans to be good.

Vampire Owl: This is interesting. Do you mind telling us why? Is the Devil too desperate for souls even when he has too many souls already?

Shadow: Absolutely not. There are never enough souls. There is a balance which has been maintained throughout the centuries. People can be told to be good, but forcing them to be so actually destroys that balance. It should be the result of free-will. Some of those people you forcibly turned good are actually causing problems at the purgatory, and you are shifting the balance in favour of heaven and purgatory only, which is a serious blow. There will always be humans of pure evil, but still…..

Shadow: Why do you have to think so? There has to be darkness for the existence of light. Otherwise, what is the point? The good can thus turn more good. You can’t change the nature of man. It is just supposed to be evil, and goodness has to be taught. Your extra effort is a bonus that the evil nature of man doesn’t need. We need those souls which we deserve. We won’t take them by force, but you can’t touch the free-will. The angels have promised that, and you have to maintain your neutrality.

Uncle Dracula: So, you expect us to remain silent when evil happens?

Shadow: Your alignment is supposed to be neutral. I am pure evil, as you can see from these wings made with hell’s dark matter. The evil has to be punished, and as humans have opted for free-will, we have to allow them to choose. You just cannot ban evil. It is like banning alcohol – people have to know that it is bad for their health and stop drinking alcohol. The righteous world is possible only when people can choose to be good even when temptations haunt them. Yes, we have a full list of temptations which we supply, but we do that for the good people to survive the same and rise to an even better level.

Vampire Owl: I should have recorded this on my phone. Here is a shadow talking like he is everything except a shadow.

Uncle Dracula: We will still choose to do good, it is a team decision.

Shadow: By all means, do good or evil. It is a decision that is left to you. But maintain your neutral nature when dealing with, when affecting humans. They should themselves choose the good and evil in the end. Only then can we function properly and do our duties.

Vampire Bat: Well, even we don’t want to see the hell going bankrupt, I guess.

Vampire Owl: There are lots of people who deserve the place, and I am sure about it. The Devil should actually take some humans early.

Uncle Dracula: Well, justice is often not served right in this world, and so the existence of hell is a much needed thing. The law of humans is in favour of the rich and those in power, and lets make sure about the better functioning of hell. We are people of the blood, and we have to do our job, but lets make sure about the existence of the good and the evil together without affecting free-will too much.

*This story features the major characters from the two movies John Wick and Hitman (one of the most admired video games of all time, and one of those games which had me very interested in it for years – I might still give it another try). The two assassins here are John Wick a.k.a. “The Boogeyman” and “Agent Codename 47” from the respective movies. The story takes place after the movie John Wick, and also after the movie Hitman even as nothing much of his past is mentioned in this tale.

John Wick wandered around with his newly found companion dog. He had finished the revenge on the Russian mobsters and was now spending his time in peace in the memories of his dead wife and that lost puppy. His new home was away from the city, in the countryside with his house surrounded by nothing, but trees.

Shave at some point of time, John Wick. Being Boogeyman doesn’t need a beard.

All of a sudden, a gunshot was heard. He felt something touch his hair on the way and as he looked at where it was headed, he saw a bullet mark on the tree on his left. He quickly took his gun from the pocket and started shooting without any stop in between.

A clean shaven face emerged from behind the trees and took one shot which hit John on the shoulders. He recognized the face. “Agent 47” he said. “Damn you assassins. Can’t you stop it now. Everyone is dead because I killed them. It has been a long time, and there is nobody to pay you for my head. It is so difficult being a retired asssassin” complained John.

“You are mistaken. I don’t do this for money. I do this for fun. You were killing people just in the name of a dog, and therefore am I not better? I do this as my special Christmas entertainment. I am a predator and I am trained for it. That old man might have died, but the offer was never closed and it still stands. I am doing this job free of cost, and I also miss Miss Perkins. This might even inspire another video game and a movie franchise like Alien vs Predator. Hitman vs Boogeyman; sounds fair” said Agent 47.

Agent 47 meant business as he always did. I doubt if anyone can find an occasion when he faltered. As John tried to make another attempt, Agent 47 retaliated with another shot which hit him on the other shoulder, making it almost impossible for him to target. John rolled away with his injured shoulders and made it into his house with Agent 47 waiting outside with his favourite weapon, AMT Hardballer.

“Is there space for a well groomed face in your house? I have never seen you under my bed. Aren’t you the one afraid of razors, Mr. Boogeyman?” Agent 47 asked loudly.

You don’t mess with Agent 47 – look at the confidence of having shaved 😀

John took his Gillette Fusion razor and started shaving, as gunshots were firing on the outside. Agent 47 was breaking in. But John had shaven now, gaining his confidence and has put his assassin’s suit on, as he is ready as he loaded his Heckler & Koch P30. With the bullets having only scratched him and having taken painkillers, he is back to doing what he did the best, as the fiery Boogeyman. The real battle starts now as the assassins in suits, separated only by the hairstyle and the colour of the ties, stood behind two pillars.

*Moral of the story: Shave for the best, and do your job with confidence.

*The images used in this blog post are from the Official Facebook Pages of John Wick and Hitman: Agent 47 movies of 2014 and 2015 respectively. I’m tagging some of my blogger friends for the same activity: Sucheta, Ada, Anita and Mahesh. Please don’t forget to mention that you were referred by me in your post.

This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity at BlogAdda in association with Gillette.

Here are the themes for your blog post-
Topics for Men:
Opportunities – Stories or instances where you missed out on an opportunity because of a ungroomed look.
Luck or Confidence? Will you leave your fate in the hands of destiny or will you step up and say yes to a well- groomed face to be at your best everyday? #WillYouShave?Topics for Ladies:
An instance when a stubble came in the way of a man’s chance to make a good impression.
An instance when a well groomed look ensured that they struck gold on an opportunity given to them.

*Except for the last photo, the images are from the Official Facebook Page of Kerala Blasters. What I asked is a question that we see in the advertisement for Indian Super League, and it is about what is more important that winning. It says that the answer to that question is winning the league for the first time and becoming the first champion ever. I don’t consider it an interesting one though, as that achievement is something which will stay heavy only for a few years. Shouldn’t the answer have been “winning the league the most number of times”?

Well, I have an answer for the same, and it is “to try your best and earn respect”. Yes, Chennaiyin did well to come back from nowhere to go up, a lot of appreciation is needed for that. That should also mean that one like less for Jeje Lalpekhlua, that is from me, just because I don’t approve handballs. Yes, everybody can’t be Adam Gilchrist or Rahul Dravid, but if they tried to be honest, that would have pleased me. I always love such a good gesture. Yes, the referee also contributed to it, whose fault it remains.

There is no denying the power of this man, no matter what happens in the end.

I believe that Chennaiyin would have won against Kerala Blasters, but it is karma that let them down. Kerala got the worst of the referee as what happened with Atletico de Kolkata reversed like a tsunami multiple times, with the worst decisions being made against them. But to add to that, Chennaiyin had to add the handball, and I believe that the one moment of cheating took the weapons of karma started its work. Poetic justice – ever heard of it? It will come to you some day, may be in this life or the next. This time, it came earlier.

Well, it is quite usual for the new generation who are taught that there is nothing bigger than winning. It is all about being glory hunters, and we have a lot of them in football. Marco Materazzi’s missing of penality is also about the same – the one thing that made him more famous than the rest, is what he caused to Zinedine Zidane, one of my favourite players of that time. He became a main reason for many of us to dislike the Chennaiyin FC along with the overacting that Abhishek Bachchan was doing at the stadium. That red card was coming for Materazzi, because there is God, and there is Sachin Tendulkar.

If you try your best and still lose, it is still a big thing. Always fight till the end.

Chennai is my second favourite city in India outside Kerala, coming next only after Kolkata, and every time, I hope to support them in any league and appreciate them coming first on the league table, but something always comes up. With Chennai Super Kings, there was that match-fixing scandal, and there was the owner of the same team controlling the whole cricket in India. Now, even for Chennaiyin FC, there is the co-owner Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and I can’t help not seeing a connection there. I then wondered why the Bangalore franchise was replaced with Chennai.

Even in a match which saw one of the worst refereeing of the whole tournament, the highlight is the effort which both teams put up here, especially Kerala Blasters who fought all odds to win this battle. Nothing seemed to work for them as there was the early red card, too many fouls against them even as the referee gave less number of them, a self-goal, a penality and a goal with a hand – all going against them. It seemed that even Mukesh and Nita Ambani were with Chennaiyin. A defeat was certain there, and with the goal keeper and the best strikers replaced, there was even less hope with a shoot-out.

Seeing a happy Sachin Tendulkar with other senior players and the team = happiness 🙂

Kerala Blasters did hold on though, and when wonder how this poetic justice worked like a dream, the name of Sachin Tendulkar comes to one’s mind. This is another gift to one of the greatest sportsmen India has ever produced, and it would be great if the other team in the final is Atletico de Kolkata, but the three teams that remains now are my favourites, and I will only be extremely delighted no matter who wins this first ISL – let it be Kerala, Kolkata or Goa. What about Sachin Tendulkar vs Sourav Ganguly in the final – wouldn’t that be awesome?

*Even if Kerala Blasters had lost today, they would have won hearts, but they chose more, and the fight they brought is more important than winning. Despite what the owners, coaches, some fans and the officials have been doing wrong, Chennaiyin team also deserves respect for making this attempt. One thing I admire about Abhishek Bachchan is that he stood with his team till the end making every team wish that they had an owner like him, otherwise I am not a fan of him with what he is showing on the ground and in the movies.

And then there is my friend Praveen Joy who managed to click one with Sachin :O 😀